Surprise at the grain boundary

Materials Research


Simulated grain boundary showing cage clustering (blue) at a titanium grain boundary. The blue atoms are titanium atoms in the vertices of the icosahedral cages, the red atoms are iron atoms and the gray atoms are other titanium atoms. Copyright C. Liebscher
Using state-of-the-art microscopy and simulation techniques, an international research team systematically observed how iron atoms alter the structure of grain boundaries in titanium. They were in for a surprise: “Iron atoms not only segregate to the interface, but they form entirely unexpected cage-like structures,” explains Prof. Dr. Christian Liebscher from the Research Center Future Energy Materials and Systems of the University Alliance Ruhr. The researchers did not expect such a behavior. Their findings have been published in the journal Science on October 25, 2024.

https://news.rub.de/english/2024-10-29-materials-research-surprise-grain-boundary